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A smart and easy way to clearly define bedding areas in any garden.

I'm not much of a gardener, but when I moved here to be confronted with a wilderness of a back garden, I made up my mind that I would keep it smart and tidy, and one of the things I needed to to in order to do so, was mark a clear defining line between the flower beds and the lawn, a task for which this log roll edging is perfect.

You can find this in any garden centre, and prices vary depending on the brand you buy and the height and length of the roll. There is also a lot of variation in quality and finish - some of the cheaper ones I looked at were rough, covered in bits that looked likely to splinter off, and in need of a good sanding. After looking at various options, both online and in stores, I opted for Wickes brand, paying £7.99 each for rolls 1.8m long, and 15cm high. I chose these because they had a 15 year anti rot guarantee, were Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, and because the finish, although a little rough, didn't seem like it would be forever leaving me with splinters.

I'm not sure what wood this is made of, but it comes in a natural timber finish which can be varnished or stained should you need to - I have neither the time or the patience! Installing this was fairly simple- I just dug a shallow trench for the edging to sit in, and every of often hammered fixing posts into the soil to which I attached the edging by nailing it. I had three small beds to border, for which I used 4 and a half rolls of fencing, and it took me 2 hours (working alone) to get it done.

It looks very smart, and presents a clear and well defined border between my flower beds, and my lawn. I see no reason why this shouldn't last a long time, and it was easy and fairly quick to install. Overall, I have no real complaints - although the finish on the logs isn't the smoothest, that was a sacrifice I chose to make to keep the price down, so I can't really moan about it.

5 stars - smart, not terribly expensive, easy to put in place, and should last years.

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Thumbs up from me

Sadly I have no grass lawn in my garden but I have planned and designed a rockery area around a large blackberry bush I have in the corner of my garden. I have lots of little stones which are sitting on a small hill. Due to the nature of gravity the stones have a tendency to slip forward across what is now the beginning of my vegetable garden area. (This is the worst description of my garden ever, but hopefully you have a rough idea of what I am talking about).

Due to this slippage, we needed something to stop the stones falling down but yet would look nice and decorative. Due to the other half working at Homebase, ideas are never in short supply and it wasn't long before he mentioned the amazing idea of Wooden log edging. I had heard of it but hadn't ever purchased it before.

We only needed one roll which was roughly 6 foot long, we paid around £5 for the roll and it has done the trick amazingly. Basically the roll consisits of six inch logs, cut in half. These logs are joined to the other logs by wire pinned on them at the back. You can then roll them out easier. If the roll is too long you can cut the wire and remove a log or more depending on what's needed. The side facing into the garden is rounded whereas the back it flat. When putting them in our garden, we dug out a little gap and put the bottom of the logs into the round securing them in with dirt and a helpful bang from a mallet. They are in the ground about an inch but this stops them falling over all the time. The wood itself has weathered which makes it look like it belongs a bit more, the new wood looked out of place, over time and being subjected to the elements the wire has broken in a few places but it still sets the garden off nicely and fulfils its job. Not only is the price good, they weather well and can be painted etc to suit any tastes, they have many uses and look good. Definite thumbs up from me.

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A wooden lawn /bed edging

Log Roll Wooden Lawn Edging

A few years ago we sold off part of our property and as such lost half our garden so we decided to spend a bit of money having it landscaped. We have a lot less lawn which pleases my husband and we kept the shrubs around the edges as they were pretty mature.

One it was all finished we had quite a few beds around the edges and coming in to the lawn which we wanted to cover with bark to reduce the weeds coming through. This meant that we needed to have something to keep the bark onto the beds and off the lawn.

We have an old farmhouse, well over three hundred years old so we wanted something in keeping with the country look and not too modern. We also wanted something that could be shaped in curves and finally something that was not too expensive.

We decided that this log roll would be just perfect as we could shape it around curves, cut it to fit the length we wanted and it was not too expensive. I can't remember what we paid about seven years ago but just yesterday we bought three more rolls to replace some that has rotted and we got three rolls for the price of two and I think they were around ten pounds a roll.

These rolls are treated so that they can cope with being next to damp soil constantly. You could stain them another colour but the pale green suit us fine and it looks natural and weathered. They are guaranteed for fifteen years but I have to say ours have lasted half that. Naturally we didn't keep our receipts so we can't challenge the guarantee.

These are fairly easy to fit .All you need to do is dig a ditch where you want thi to go and place the edging in the ditch to the height you want it to stick up. Then back fill it from the bed side so that it if firmly in place. You need to ensure you have your ditch dug level or ensure you level it up otherwise the edging will look odd going up and down.

We have the deeper log roll as well as we use that as a retaining wall around a large cedar tree. Nothing will grow under this tree because it is dry and the roots are close to the surface and there is very little light. This meant we had an untidy joining of the lawn to the area under the tree. We decided to demarcate the area around the tree and build that up. We use this log roll as a retaining wall so that this dead area was separated from our lower lawn. This has lasted better than the edging around the beds to be honest. I am not sure whether it is because it is drier or those log rolls are better treated than the lower height ones we bought.

Despite the fact that some have rotted and are in the process of being replaced I would recommend these rolls as they are not too expensive. They give a nice neat edge and hold in any bark or stones into the bed area. It also stops grass creeping onto the flower beds so saves constant trimming of edges. Now we have thee my husband can strim (with an elctric stimmer) the edges rather than me doing it with shears on my knees.

These can be bought from many garden centres, B&Q, Homebase, Argos and even from Amazon. Depending on the height of the edging the price varies and it also varies from store to store so if you do want to get some shop around as always.

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I would recommend these as a solution to soil spillage as they are cheap and effective.

After having enough with soil going onto the concrete after rain falls I decided to find a solution for this problem and by luck my friend had extra log rolls that he did not need so he gave them to me.

They are small logs that are curved at the front to add an some complexity and detail to the design and are flat on the back to stop any soil from spilling. The wood is already treated to increase durability however I decided to add varnish to give it a bit more colour.

They basically come rolled up together and all you have to do is unroll them and place them into the soil in any wanted shape by using a heavy object of some sort (I used a hammer). They are easy to place as there is no need for complicated application methods. Another pro is that they can be changed in to fit a new garden design at any time.

These logs have resisted the weather conditions very nicely as they do not swell up or even get that soggy after rain, so they are quite water resistant to some extent. However, im pretty sure this will change after a few more month, but for the small price you pay for these logs I think they are a good way to keep your garden nice and tidy.

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Log roll edging

When we first moved into our new build house the inside looked nice and perfect but the garden was basically just a big stretch of dirt. It was nice in a way because we got to decide exactly what we wanted to do with it and in the end we ended up cutting some beds into it on two sides of the garden. We wanted something to finish them off with and decided upon some of this log roll wooden lawn edging as we had seen it at our local garden centre and liked the look of it.

The log roll basically comes in a big roll and all you have to do is unroll it and then you can do what you wish with it, edge beds, edge lawns etc. The wood is basically in the shape of a semi circle so one side is flat and the other side is rounded. The wood is in individual sections although it is all kept together with wire that links them all but keeps them flexible. I think this is good because you can then go round corners or create curves. We did curved beds so it was quite easy to make this go in a semi circle shape of the bed.

The rolls are fairly cheap. I think we paid in the £10 region for each roll and only needed three or four for all of our beds. What I like about the wood is that although all the pieces are the same height they are not cut dramatically and so you get a bit of a difference, making it quite a rustic look. You can either stain the wood or keep it the same colour it comes as it has already been treated with wood preserve so we just kept ours natural how it came.

What I also like about this log roll is that its really easy to put in your garden. You just sort of knock it into the soil so there is no need for concrete or nails or anything, meaning if you want to move it its easy to take up again and move. You can buy it in different heights, I believe ours l are 6 inches because our beds are not very high so we just wanted something to separate the grass and the soil. I think this makes the beds and the garden nice and finished and is something I recommend.

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See Review

We had some small fences down the sides of out pebble garden where it goes into the flower beds to give it a nice edge but the fences had rotted in places and it was looking very tired and tatty down there so we had a look in B&Q and found these log rolls and thought they would do the job instead.

We didn't need it to be too high as it was only going to be for show so we decided to get this one that was 0.15m high. It works out about 6 inhces high for those like me who find it hard to visualise things in centimetres etc these days. The length of the roll is 1.8m which is about 6 foot long. We had to buy six of them to fit down the sides of our flower beds.

The logs are joined together with metal wires and when you unroll them you need to make sure they are bent properly so that the roll lays flat before you try laying it in place as it is harder to do when you are bending down trying to get it to fit in. We laid ours out on the patio and flattened it out well first. It was quite easy to flatten out, the wire holding them together is quite thick but was easy to work with.

We pushed the logs slightly into the soil a bit but it felt like it was still going to fall over so we got some small thin sticks (they were bamboo sticks) and cut them to a bit longer than the log roll and then pushed them in behind the roll to keep it up. It might be better if you are putting them at the edge of a lawn and the flower beds are higher than the lawn but our flower beds are the same height at the pebbles in the centre so there was nothing to lean the roll against.

The roll looks really nice one we got it in place. It is a nice colour, it sort of matches the wood we used for the decking, having a slight green tinge to it where they have treated the wood.

I would recommend these log rolls if you are looking for a small edging to your garden or flower beds. The roll this size costs just under £8 each, they do a larger roll, which is twice the height of this one, and it costs £12.98.

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A simple yet effective edging solution for your garden, and mine.

~~KEEPING THE GARDEN TIDY~~

Keeping the garden tidy seems to be a never ending task. Now the children are grown up it is a little easier in some ways; as there aren't as many toys left strewn all over the place, although the pool comes out in the summer as on occasion does my daughter's large trampoline. Sometimes some games are still played in the garden, such as swing ball, French boules and we even sometimes attempt badminton. But we haven't a huge garden and it doesn't take much to for the garden to look messy. A few things left out, the grass uncut and creeping into the borders can make it untidy. Mainly though nowadays most toys left in the garden belong to Joey (our West Highland White Terrier)and balls land in our garden which belong to the children who live a couple of doors away.

But even when things are put away in the garage or shed, the garden often needs more tending to than it actually gets. Now, I like a nice garden, but am not really much of a gardener. I have some knowledge gleaned from my late mother's enthusiastic and successful attempts to create a lovely garden and also that of my late uncle with his undoubted green fingers and extensive knowledge of horticulture. I have to admit that I want the garden to look nice; after all I spend quite a lot of time in it during the summer and, so far this year with the gorgeous spring we are enjoying, have already enjoyed a couple of barbecues and a drink or two (of both tea and the alcoholic variety) on the patio. Long may the sun shine!

My garden, although not that big is reasonably wide and not so long. It is mainly made up of a paved patio area with a small lawn and borders on either side. It is essentially what I would call a natural, perhaps even a country looking garden, with a few trees at one end; one being a neighbour's silver birch with its branches lazily overhanging our garden, and a tree spreading over from the neighbouring garden on the other side. At the end is the garage. In the border we mainly have shrubs, as these don't need too much tending yet provide greenery all year round. This is the effect I aim for.

In the borders I have a beautiful peony which at the moment looks truly glorious with its deep pink flowers appearing; and many different type of shrubs, and just a few flowers, such as geraniums, dotted here and there, adding summer colour to the many hues of green.

But a few years ago we found that the borders were mixing with the lawn and not very neatly, so we looked for something to divide he two and stop the grass growing into the borders. We don't aim for an immaculate look but felt that a little order was necessary if the garden was to remain a pleasant area for our family to enjoy.

At first we tried some green plastic edging which soon began to look scruffy. Next we began to collect wooden log roll edging. I say collect, as initially we purchased two rolls from a Poundstretcher store, to try it out. It was on offer for something like (but don't quote me on this!) two rolls for £5.00. But last year when we decided to remove all the plastic edging (it was looking awful and the grass was spilling over it) and instead have the log roll edging increased to run along the length of the border area on one side (We also now have a different type of lawn edging on the other side). We couldn't find this any longer in Poundstretcher, so we have purchased some rolls from Wilkinsons. I have also seen log roll in B&Q., although I don't think it's such a bargain as it was in Poundstretcher and, in all honesty, to my eyes the log roll looks much the same from anywhere. Admittedly though, B&Q do have more choice in the actual height of the log used. For us though, we wanted it to be near enough the same length to match the log rolls we already had.

All in all I would think we must have bought six or maybe seven log rolls of this type as well as a similar amount of the different thinner type of roll, which I mentioned, for the other side of the garden. Although this other type looks different, the height is much the same and being of wood it blends well.

~~INSTALLING~~

Once the task of fitting this was finished it looked good and the effect and purpose we required was achieved. The edging made a clear divide from lawn to border but still left the natural look we desired.Reaching this effect wasn't too difficult, although you could say this is easy for me to say as it was my husband doing most of the work while I, again very kindly, took on the job of supervisor. Before my husband lays a slab, plants a flower etc. he does like to make sure I have agreed the spot! I think many male readers will sympathise with my husband on this, whilst my female allies may see the sense in my supervision; after all, us ladies DO have a good eye for things, wouldn't you agree?

Firstly, my husband laid the edging close to where he thought it should go and when I affirmed his choice he dug it into the soil close to the lawn. He said that although not too laborious a task, because of the flat design of the end of the logs he had to hammer every individual log into the soil and they could only be banged in as far as the plastic coated wire would allow. He thought that these logs would be much better, in both installing and for a lasting good overall appearance, if perhaps the two end logs, and one in the middle of the roll, could be pointed or tapered. This would then enable fitting to be easier AND the roll overall would be much more secure in its fitting; it would go down deeper providing a more secure fit which would remain in a more upright position; better withstanding the elements, and the odd football or two being kicked at it.

In some areas where we chose to curve the edging to provide a natural sweep there were now some bare areas lacking grass. My husband transplanted some clumps of grass which had been dug up for the edging to be placed correctly. This worked well but there were a few small areas still left bare, and in these grass seed was sown.

~~OVERALL~~

Now that the first edging roll has been in place for about three years I would say it still looks okay. However, we (hubby and I) can see faults in the design and think simple improvements could be made to the design of the log roll. He feels that it won't stay in good condition for too long as there is already some rotting of the log which has been dug into the earth. This doesn't matter TOO much if the edging is purchased cheaply, and one isn't employing someone to carry out the work, as in our case; we can buy more, as and when needed without incurring too much cost of material. And no labour cost-just a cup of tea or a pint for the worker. However, if you want a really long lasting job and you have straight runs that need dividing, then I believe that the short panels of wooden edging which are available with spiked logs on either end, will perhaps provide a better looking edging for longer; where they dig deeper into the ground they are more likely to remain upright and in good condition than the shorter not tapered edging that we have used. As our borders are curved and not uniform then it would not work for us. This is simply an idea which may suit many gardens. But overall I think the edging is worthwhile; it adds to the look of the garden, certainly giving a tidier yet natural effect and makes mowing the lawn easier as the lawn keeps to its own part of the garden.

~~WHERE TO BUY~~

B&Q: Grange Log Edging Green (L) 0.15m x (W) 1.8m £7.98

QD Stores:6 Inch Garden Roll1.8m In length £3.99

Amazon:Various sizes and prices.

Argos:Single size (H) 15, (W) 180, (D) 6cm. Pack of two for £9.99

Wilkinsons:15cmx1.8m £4.98

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Great visual appeal when set correctly.

It's always nice to have a tidy garden, and those of you with flower beds will know how difficult it can be to keep that edge between the lawn and the flower bed neat and tidy. Very often, the grass will run into the bed and you start to lose the definition of the straight or curved line edge between the 2. Hence this Log Roll Wooden Lawn Edging can be used to tidy up that edging.

I have a couple of large flower beds in the front garden and ended up buying 4 packs of this edging to tidy up the edge around them. I paid £7 for each roll from Amazon, which at the time was towards the bottom end of the price scale. Each roll is 6 feet long and 6 inches high, but you can get variations that are taller. The best way to describe it is if you imagine a load of 6 inch high logs that have been cut in half lengthways. The halves have then been placed side by side and fixed together with a length of wire across the back which has been nailed to the back of each one. You then have the curved part of the log facing the front, with the flat section and wire at the back. The whole lot is then flexible lengthways so that you can shape it to fit any border, and by putting a few lengths together, you can create long runs to encompass a large flower bed. If it is too long, you can always cut a few logs off by snipping through the wire.

There are a number of ways in which you can place this edging along a border. You can just place it on top of the edge between the lawn and the bed, but that doesn't really create a robust edge. A better way which I've used is to dig out a small trench along the edge and to then bury about 3 inches of the edging all the way along into the trench, and then back fill the soil against the edging. I've found that this then holds it firmly in position. Of note, the wood itself has been pressure treated to prevent (or at least slow down) the process of rotting. Obviously it you put an untreated wooden object on moist or damp ground, the moisture will penetrate and eventually cause rot. This pressure treatment of this edging slows that penetration process down, meaning that your edging will last longer once installed, and it does come with a one year warranty when first purchased.

Durability wise, what's it like? Well, I set my edging up about 18 months ago and it still looks good. When you first get it, it comes in a sort of browny orange colour where it has been pressure treated. But over time, and with exposure to the elements, the orange fades slightly and the wood takes on an aged effect which does look quite good and a little quirky. But it is still sturdy and firmly in place.

To balance the review, the only thing that may be a little annoying is when you come to cut the grass. With the curved bits of the logs pointing outwards, it can be difficult to get your lawnmower right up to the edge to cut the grass, especially into those gaps where the 2 logs come together along their edge on the curved side. Hence, you can end up with long strands of grass being left in the gaps after you've run the lawnmower past. I can normally deal with most of these strands by getting the strimmer out to cut them, which seems to get nicely into the gaps between the logs. Ok, it's another laborious process getting the strimmer out to get a tidy cut edge on your lawn, but to me, when it is done, it does leave a very neat finish against the logs which is worth the effort.

In summary, whilst it can take a bit of effort to fix the edging firmly in place, the long term benefits and visual appeal make it all worth while. Hence, if you are prepared to put the initial effort in, this Log Roll Wooden Lawn Edging comes highly recommended.

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If you are looking for this type of product then I advise you shop around - prices vary wildly.

Both of my lawns are well kept and the edges are trimmed regularly, but to distinguish between the lawn and flowerbeds we have installed Log Roll Lawn Edging at the main flower beds around the edge of the lawns. At just 6" in height the Log Roll is ideal for breaking up your garden and could be used for decoration around the edge of either your lawns or your flower beds. Each log is attached to the next through lengths of heavy duty galvanised wire which are stapled to the flat side of the wood. The wire runs through the entire length of the log roll and with a length of around 5ft 11" it does go a long way. You might be wondering that it would be expensive to install in your garden, but at just £4 from any decent garden centre you will find it both affordable and very useful in keeping your garden in good order. There are a number of online retailers offering a similar product, but you would probably be best collecting it yourself from one of the major retailers such as B&Q. To secure the log roll you can always purchase large pins which can be hammered into the ground to securely hold the log roll in place. Online I have seen these for £1.99 each, so they are by no means cheap, but pretty much essential when using such a product as the log roll.

The log roll comes rolled up, which is the easiest way of transporting it and very useful for when you are applying it to your lawn edging. At just 6" tall the log roll is subtle and I think it has really finished off the whole look of my garden by tidying the edges up. The log roll can be used on both straight and curved edges as it is so flexible. The log sections are apparently pressure impregnated for protection against rot, which is very useful if it is true as the logs are always in contact with the ground and so would soon rot otherwise. The log roll offers a decorative finish to my garden, and I would strongly recommend anyone with untidy borders to take a look at this product.

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Very quick and easy edging

I purchased a roll of this wooden log roll edging last spring from my local B&Q store. I have always had quite a plain little garden, which is exactly how I like it, for the easy, low maintenance, and so it had always comprised of just a plain lawn, a simple shed and patio area, and a couple of pots, but last spring, I decided I could stretch to a little border area, with a nice little tree in it.

What is log roll edging??

Log roll edging, is basically a roll of edging designed for creating borders for flower beds, or for around garden paths, or other garden features.I paid around £6 from memory for a rolled up length of the wooden log roll edging, which I have just checked the measurements of, and it is 180cm long, and 15cm high. It contains 30 small Pressure treated, FSC Certified wooden logs, which are neatly sized and shaped, and all held together with a couple of bands of wire hidden behind the back of the logs.

Luckily for me, my dad is a very keen and skilled gardener / DIY expert, and so I did consult him first before embarking on what could have been yet another of my little DIY disasters.

My Dad's top tip, which seems obvious when you know it, but I'm almost certain there is no way that I would have done it without his advice, was to fully un-roll the log, and leave it laid out face up, flat on the floor for a few hours, as it had lost its shape somewhat, due to the way it was rolled up for storage in the store. After this simple task was completed, I loosely stood the log roll up in the area by the fence where I wanted to create the border, and marked around the inside of it with the sharp edge of the spade. I then dug out a thin layer of turf going from the marked area up to the fence, and went about positioning the wooden log roll as perfectly as I could into position against the raised layer of turf, before gently hammering the roll into the ground, and filling the inside of the roll with a heavy layer of soil.

The result is very impressive (for me), and although I was worried at the time, that the log roll edging was not sturdy enough in the ground, it has stood the test of time very well, and looks like it will last for many years. I have even accidently bashed the lawnmower into it a couple of times, but the turf one side, and the soil the other side keeps it firmly in place.

So all in all I have been pleased with the wooden log roll edging from B&Q, it was very cheap, and simple to position in the ground, and provides a very good barrier between my soil border and the nice green grass on the lawn. It is well worth taking a bit of time when positioning the roll edging, but other than hitting the top of the logs too hard with a hammer, and breaking them completely, there is no real damage that can be done, and it is always going to be quite easy to rip it up, if it needs re-laying for some reason.I am intending to treat the wooden roll this summer with a bit of wood stain, just simply to keep it looking nice and new, and help to protect it from any rotting (although a 1 year warranty was included with the purchase price which has now expired a few weeks ago).

These log edging rolls are currently available at B&Q in three different heights of 15cm, 30cm, and 45cm, priced at £7:98, 11:98 and 15:98 respectively, so they are quite versatile, depending upon the height of the border that is required, and if a very large length is required then the rolls can be positioned in a line next to each other to achieve the required length.

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A versatile product

~Roll out the...log roll!~******************

For an easy to fix and fit in place border that can be used in many ways in the garden you can do far worse than investing in some budget priced wooden log roll bundles. I have found that these simply made rolls of rustic looking spilt logs can be a quick and easy way to spruce up unloved or unused corners of the garden and help turn them into attractive features with just a little amount of effort and a relatively small initial outlay to buy your rolls of log roll border. In the past I have bought some of these simple rustic log roll borders to use to help turn a disaster area in the garden into a very attractive and usable planting area, that allowed many wonderful plants to grow on well, whilst providing the area with some much needed interest.

~More about the product~********************

The individual wooden log rolls come in a good variety of sizes with some of them being very low in height which would make them suited to edging small feature lawns or gravel covered areas. The taller log rolls are perfect for use when making raised beds or feature planting areas and I have found both the taller and shorter versions of the product to be of use when placed in a suitable situation. When picking the right log roll border for the right job it is wise to consider what you want each final design to achieve and it is more than worth taking a little time to see what it available for sale before purchase.

When I bought some of the taller 12 inch high log roll borders for use at the end of the garden to help create a nicely raised planting area I had help fixing the borders in place as each length of log roll does need some support when in place. I found that in order to use the log roll to best effect with it being both well situated and durable, it had to be fixed in place every few feet with some simple wooden spikes that were pushed into the ground. The log roll was then fixed onto the wooden spikes and positioned as needed so as to give a nicely curved and natural effect to the finished look of the raised border.

I found that each roll of wooden log roll had two metal fixing lines running alone behind it, that allowed the roll to be set out as needed without the whole roll of logs coming apart. When wanting to join one log roll to another in order to extend the border, I found it was easy to add one roll of logs to another by attaching the metal wires from one roll to another. This gave a longer border which was more suited to the design of the border I had in mind and it was something that was very simple and quick to do.

Once I was happy with how the log roll border looked once it was set in place all that was needed was to have the planting bed back filled with top soil and compost making it ready to use and plant up with all sorts of lovely plants. The finished effect was very good with the log roll looking rustic and natural and being a compliment to the setting it was placed in. I found that over the course of a few years the look of the log roll became more weathered and silvery in tone and whilst you could stain or paint the logs if wanted I found that the silvery grey hue became very attractive to the eye so left it as it was.

~Rating and price~***************

The cost of the log roll at the time of purchase was reasonable when I consider that just 2 full rolls were enough to make up a very nice raised border that lasted for many years with no maintenance required. At the moment the shorter log roll borders can be found for as little as £3.99 to £4.99 each depending on their length, with the larger taller sets being £6.99 to £8.99 depending on where they are purchased. Over all I feel that garden log roll borders are very easy to create using this simple yet durable product with very little time and effort needed in order to get a very pleasing result that will last for some time. As such I feel that this product is fully deserving of a 5 star rating.

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A reasonable option worth considering if you want an instant border or bed

During the process of making a garden from a bare plot, we wanted to introduce some informal shaped borders. We made quite a few borders just by laying single rows of old house bricks side by side. It's always good to have a hard edge between lawn and border. It helps to keep the soil back and allows you to strim the lawn neatly.

We do have two borders made from this log roll wooden edging. From past experience, we knew that this type of edging, although visually appealing is no good for heavily trafficked areas so we restricted their use to two rose beds adjacent to the patio and it was my job to lay the edging to my wife's (crap) border design.

After having made it clear to her that I had 3 x 1 metre sections of this edging, she created a border that was too big and she wasn't best pleased when I chopped off the ends. Anyway that apart, I made myself 4 long stakes, each of about 2 feet in length and I made a basic post mix in order to securely fix them about two thirds of the way down.

After the mix had set the next day, I attached the log roll edging securely to the posts, adding a few shorter posts hammered almost fully into the ground to help form the curved shape she had dug out. I just used hammer and long staples to secure the wire parts holding the roll together to the main posts and I made sure that the edging was firm against the ground and as level as possible. Where the lawn edging roll met a strengthening interim stake I attached it to those as well so that on full installation, I has about 10 feet of gently curving edging which approximated to what my wife wanted. It passed her beady eye of approval anyway.

I don't much like this stuff - it's a bit of a faff to install properly, but if you do the job properly, it does hold its shape well, provided you don't tread on it or pile up too much soil behind it.

The edging comes ready treated and we prefer the natural weathered effect so I didn't give it any further treatment. However, you could apply a stain or some exterior paint beforehand if you want to draw attention to the edging. We prefer it to blend in which it now has.

Because this edging is created from fairly small pieces of wood, it will not last forever, so be prepared to change it every 5 years or so. It's OK, I guess and the particular ones we bought were nice and tight. I wouldn't buy any where there were big or uneven gaps between the log pieces and don't go for anything too cheap and flimsy. You need a nice strong galvanised wire if it is going to stay together securely for a few years.

You can get this in longer lengths and different heights, but in summary I would emphasise that if you don't install it properly, it won't look as good nor last as long.

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For people who want to edge their lawns with a border, this a good product to try

At this time of year, before the leaves on the trees come out, our back garden gets quite a bit of sun. From about 2002-2008, most years - though not every year, as there was a break when we were living away from home in an inner-city slum - we've gotten to this stage of the growing season, thought 'hey, look at all that sun this part of the garden gets! That bit of ground looks good for growing veg on doesn't it?' and then been horribly disappointed come mid-June when the tree canopy closes completely and the spuds or whatever we've put into the plot goes all yellow and spindly and / or comes down with the dreaded potato blight.

2008 marked the turning point where we rolled over the shady "veg plot" and sowed it over with grass seed to make a bit more lawn. To compensate, we designated a small, sunnier plot of used-to-be lawn as a new bed for growing home produce and dug that over instead.

When you make a veg bed there are lots of ways to go. Every garden centre in the country wants to sell you miniscule little 'raised bed' kits for £79.99 each, or if money is no object and you have your own flat-bed truck, you could always buy used railway sleepers and make a super-sturdy raised bed out of those, the only problem being that these, old railway sleepers days cost approximately their own (immense) weight in gold. As I was vaguely planning to emigrate to New Zealand in the foreseeable future, and was saving up for airline tickets, I didn't want the added financial outlay, quite frankly.

So, we somewhat bodged the job and created a very-slightly-raised veg bed by enclosing the designated area with Log Roll Wooden Lawn Edging, which we purchased from 'Focus' DIY shop. Log Roll Wooden Lawn Edging is a product intended for providing a neat edge to the turf around lawns, flowerbeds, and garden paths etc. It comes (from Focus, at least) as lengths of 15, 23 or 30cm high split, rounded pine logs, all strung next to each other (in a standing up position) on sections of thickish, galvanized wire (to resist rust). To secure the product in the ground, at intervals are included longer poles with sharpened ends; the 'regular', between-section logs are cut off with a square bottom, the idea being that they will rest flat on the soil surface when the longer poles are hammered into the ground.

Because the log-roll is sold - well, in rolled up sections, it tends to have 'kinks' and tries to curl up again when you come to lay it out in the garden. Bearing in mind that personally, I'm totally kack-handed at all DIY-related tasks, I found it quite difficult to install the log roll in a really straight line as it was difficult to maintain the tension in the wire enough to stretch the roll out properly. Similarly, even once hammered into the ground, the stakes still had a tendency to pull sideways and 'creep' loose - though this was nothing disastrous from my point of view as I was only using it to contain the slightly-raised veg bed, which is not exactly a character feature. If, however I'd wanted the garden to look all neat as and end point -with, say, straight lines of evenly-installed log roll, that swept in great arching Classical curves round the lawn and in and out of the flower borders, I'd have been a bit sick at the wonky results I would've got hammering this stuff in with its little stakes. If you want a really neat result with log roll, I'd say you either need to properly know how to what you're trying to be doing, or perhaps better yet - just go the whole hog and employ a professional to do it for you instead.

Log Roll is available from garden centres and DIY shops everywhere. From Focus, the economy version of 15cm high lawn edging costs £4.99 for a 1.5m length; a slightly longer (1.8m), non-economy portion would currently be £7.65 - so to edge or enclose any significant area is going to be quite expensive. The product is, however built to last (or-so-it-is-said, by Focus, at any rate).

The logs are made from pressure treated softwood (ie some variety of pine), which comes from FSC-certified timber. The product according to Focus' product blurb is "Guaranteed against rot for 15 years*" - and while I've no doubt the log roll is going to last a fair few years at least, good luck getting your money back on it after all that time, and if you want to take them up on that offer, I suppose you'd better hold onto your till receipt.

* There is a little asterisk included next to that 15 year guarantee point, which I assume refers to some terms or conditons / exculsions to the guarantee - though unfortunately I couldn't find out what these were from the Focus internet site.

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A log edging roll!

After finally getting around to doing the garden up, it soon became apparent that garden accessories could potentially be very expensive, so cost effective and attractive were of course paramount!

After managing to pretty much stock up our garden with half price plants (thanks to a season sale for slightly damaged plants!), we decided that a the garden seemed lacking, so decided that this product was the ideal solution, adding a bit of a feature and also separating the grassed area off from the path, with my children even taking a small section of ground each for their own plants, again being separated by a portion of this log roll.

Each roll consists of around 1 metre to a metre and half of wired together 6" rounded pieces of wood, rounded on the front side (which makes them very nice to look at!) an flat on the actual edging side, meaning that this should lie flush with whatever you are edging.

All that you do is measure how much of the roll you will need, snip it to size, which is easily done with some heavy wire cutters, then either place around the area you want edging au natural, or varnish/paint to match your garden, ours was painted a burgundy colour, to match the fence and the shed, and looked very effective.

To keep in place we found that digging a small trench was ideal, so effectively burying the bottom third of each piece of wood, and occasionally gently tapping with a hammer to make sure they are as well placed as they were originally.

Due to us having to bury the base of them , I really didn't expect them to last as long as they have done, with us doing the garden after moving in, and these still being relatively good 7 years later.This I would attribute to the fact that they are "pressure treated", thus preventing the elements to work there way into the wood too quickly, though after all this time we have had a few losses, especially (strangely enough!) the one's edging the area of where we keep our recycle bins, with these one's being held up with gravel rather than soil, though I have caught the kids using this row as a tightrope, so I think that may well have more to do with it!

To edge everything we wanted to in the garden it took a good three rolls, and with these only costing £2.99 a roll (£3.99 on www.amazon.co.uk now), this gave a nice effect to the garden, but costing us very little, we even expected that this would be a cheap but regular purchase, but have been surprised by how hardy these wood rolls have actually been, and I would happily recommended them to anyone!

Thanks for reading x

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A nice edging if its secured well

Log Roll edging is one of those things that can look really nice on the other hand it can look messy. Personally I quite like it and we have used it in our garden. You can buy log roll from most garden centres, DIY stores and lots of on line sites such as Amazon or ebay and it can be bought in a variety of different sizes.

Log roll edging is made from round pieces of wood all attached together with wire. The "logs" are slices in half length ways so the roll has a flat back. The wire is attached to the back of the roll and enables the whole thing to be flexible so you can curve it around in different shapes. This can then be used for edging flower or vegetable beds, paths and lawns or anything you want really.

The last time we bought some log roll we got it from Hombase. It costs £9.99 for 2 rolls. Each roll is 180cm's long and 15cm's high. The log rolls are made from FSC timber that has been pressure treated. FSC ( forest stewardship council, www.fsc-uk.org ) is an international organisation which promotes responsible management of the forests all over the world. Its supported by the WWF, Greenpiece and the Woodland Trust.

One of the ways we used our log roll was to make raised beds. Now this is where, in my opinion, log roll edging can look a bit messy. Its hard to get it to stand straight in the ground and can look a bit wonky. Also if you bury the roll to keep it upright and in place it will in time start to rot. When we used our log roll my fiancé mark made little stakes which he screwed onto the back of the roll. These could then be pushed into the ground to keep the log roll stable and in place and also means the wood is just sitting slightly in the ground instead of being half buried. We also made a planter with them. Mark made a frame work and we attached the log roll around it. This looks really nice and matches the raised beds.

Log roll edging is a garden product that can really work well and give your garden quite a natural rustic feel to it, however, I do think rather than just burying it in the ground or standing it around the edge of a garden it does need to be firmly secured, either by attaching stakes to the back of it or fixing the log roll to a sturdy structure. This will stop it moving out of shape or falling over.

Of course log roll like any wood in the garden can be treated or painted any colour you choose. Personally we leave ours natural but that's just our preference. Overall I would recommend this product but in my opinion you need to fix it securely.